September 11, 2003
The Texas A&M men's golf team opens its fall season at the 48th Annual William H. Tucker Intercollegiate on Friday and Saturday at the University of New Mexico's Championship Golf Course.
The 20-team field will play 36 holes on Friday and 18 holes on Saturday for a total of 54 holes. Play begins at 7:30 a.m. (MST) each day on the par 72, 7,354-yard golf course.
In addition to A&M, the field includes Air Force, No. 11-ranked Arizona, No. 8 Arizona State, Baylor, Brigham Young, Colorado, Colorado State, Hawaii, No. 7 UNLV, No. 20 New Mexico, New Mexico JV, New Mexico State, No. 16 North Carolina State, Pepperdine, San Diego State, Stanford, UTEP, Texas Tech and Toledo.
Representing the Aggies will be seniors Stephen Reed (Houston/St. Thomas HS), Parker Briley (Abilene/Wylie HS) and David Tasker (Willowvale, Australia/Bowral HS), junior David Schultz (Richardson/Berkner HS) and sophomore Andrew Parr (London, Ontario/Oakridge Secondary). Playing as individuals for the Aggies will be sophomore Rand Arbuckle (College Station/A&M Consolidated) and freshman Tyler Kief (Kingwood/Kingwood HS).
"We're excited about our team this year and are eager to get started," said third-year head coach J.T. Higgins. "The Tucker is always a challenge because of the strong field and great golf course. I think this team will be the best we've had since I've been here. We have the potential to have a great season and it should be a lot of fun."
Reed was an All-Big 12 pick last year and was runner-up in two tournaments, while Tasker earned all-region honors and finished third at the Big 12 Championships. Briley surged at the end of last season and had a successful summer, qualifying for the U.S. Amateur and finishing 10th at the Southern Amateur. Parr played in 12 tournaments last season as a true freshman.
"We have a lot of talented players and we have developed a strong work ethic and positive attitude," Higgins said. "Our success probably depends a lot on Reed and Tasker. When they play well and are on top of their games, they can play with anyone and we are a very good team. They both have the ability to be All-Americans this year."
But the key to A&M's hopes at the Tucker may rest with Schultz, who transferred to A&M from New Mexico earlier this year. Schultz finished 22nd in last year's Tucker while competing for the Lobos. Arbuckle redshirted last year after ranking third on the team in scoring as a true freshman in 2001-02. Kief also redshirted last season.
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